Azhar Iqubal (Inshorts Co-owner)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Azhar Iqubal

• Azhar Iqubal is an Indian businessman, who co-created Inshorts, a news-providing application, in 2013. In October 2023, he was selected as one of the judges, referred to as “Sharks”, on Shark Tank India, a business reality TV show.

• After schooling, he began preparing for the IIT JEE.

• Azhar joined IIT Delhi in 2009.

• During his college years, Azhar and his classmates Deepit Purkayastha and Anunay Pandey created the Facebook page “News In Shorts.” They started the page after observing a lack of awareness among their classmates about current events and the lengthy nature of articles on digital news platforms. While giving an interview, he said,
  

  I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2013 along with my Indian Institute of Technology’s classmates Anunay Pandey and Deepit Purkayastha. We observed that Millennials were increasingly distancing themselves from the concept of reading news and the major hindrance was the long and bulky nature of the content and lack of reading time. Realising the issue, we decided to create a Facebook page called News in Shorts which focused on giving the readers quick summaries of news stories within the limit of 60 words. Today, Inshorts is India’s highest-rated and #1 English news app with more than 10 million active users.”

• Azhar regularly shared short and trending news on the Facebook page, News In Shorts, created for quick one-minute reads.

• After creating the page, Azhar encouraged his friends and family to share it, resulting in a rapid increase in followers.

  

• During their time at IIT Delhi, Azhar Iqubal, Deepit, and Anunay participated in entrepreneurial seminars and events organized by TLabs, a division of the Times Internet group. They engaged with industry professionals there and managed to secure Rs. 10 lakh in funding for their business concept in exchange for a 10% equity stake.

• In an interview, Azhar said that his motivation to start a business came after witnessing the growth of companies like Snapdeal and Flipkart through fundraising efforts. He also mentioned that India’s 2009 economic policies created a favourable environment for aspiring entrepreneurs.

  

• In 2012, Azhar Iqubal chose to leave IIT Delhi in order to dedicate himself to business development. He became inspired to become a businessman by seeing the journey of Sachin Bansal, the founder of Flipkart.

• Reportedly, after Azhar opted out of IIT Delhi, his family faced a hard time as no one supported his decision to quit engineering.

• Azhar, Deepit, and Anunay introduced the News In Shorts mobile app on 4 September 2013. It delivered concise, cost-free, 60-word news updates on trending topics, designed to be read in under 30 seconds. The app was initially made available for Android users.

• With the company’s growth, Azhar hired several skilled writers and began generating money for the app by implementing advertisements on the app. In an interview, Azhar revealed that he worked more than 12 hours a day.

• In 2014, News In Shorts secured significant investments during a C-round funding event in New Delhi.

• In 2015, the app was rebranded as Inshorts and secured investments exceeding 25 crore rupees.
• In the same year, the application was released for iPhone users.

• He was featured in an article written by The Times of India in 2015.

  

• At first, 80 to 100 daily news articles were published, but this figure increased to over 500 gradually.

• In April 2016, Azhar introduced a Hindi version of Inshorts to expand its presence in tier-two cities.

• He was appointed as the director of Locvid Services Private Limited on 16 November 2019. The business provides a range of services including accounting, bookkeeping, auditing, tax consultancy, market research, public opinion polling, and business management consultancy.

• Azhar, together with Deepit and Anunay, released the social media app “Public” to connect local communities in India.

  

• On 10 January 2020, Azhar began working as a director at Inshorts India Advertising And Services Private Limited.

• Inshorts secured $60 million in investments in 2021.

• In the same year, Public App secured investments worth Rs. 300 crores.

  

• The Public App became the most downloaded location-based social media platform with over 100 million downloads in October 2023.

• As of October 2023, Inshorts has secured $119 million through six funding rounds with support from eight investors.

• By 2023, Inshorts was downloaded over 10 million times on Google Play Store and its value was estimated at Rs. 3,700 crore.

  

• According to Azhar Iqubal, he developed the habit of reading when he launched Inshorts in 2013.

• He joined Shark Tank India as a judge in 2023.

  

• Azhar likes to travel a lot, and he has visited many places to explore them.

  

• Azhar Iqubal enjoys engaging in adventure sports like skydiving and scuba diving.